Budgies transform Red Centre into a sea of green and gold

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
19 APR RAINBOMB EFFECTS
BB1fNbUq.img

Budgies are in abundance in the Red Centre, thanks to plentiful summer rains. (Supplied: Angus Newey, Alice Springs Desert Park.)
Waterholes in the Red Centre have been transformed into a lush oasis for Australia's iconic green and gold budgerigar.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Central Australia recorded the wettest summer in a decade, refilling water courses and replenishing native grasses.

Tugan Woodley, specialist bird keeper at the Alice Springs Desert Park, said the conditions were perfect for budgies.

"It's ticking all the boxes; you've got water, you've got shelter, you've got food, and they're going to breed," he said.

"And they'll do it more than once."

Mr Woodley said the main drawcard for the birds was the amount of rain the area has received over the past four to five months.

"They've just followed the rain in big numbers back to Central Australia," he said.

Sight to behold
Mr Woodley said seeing flocks of 5000 birds was a rare experience he would never forget.

"The noise — you just you need to experience it. It's really hard to describe the chatter between the budgies."

The sound of the incoming flocks, wing beats and all, was enough to take your breath away, Mr Woodley said.

"It's just incredible to hear."

Circle of life
Mr Woodley said the explosion in budgie numbers was also attracting larger bird species such as the Brown Falcon.

"You've got the all the birds coming in just to have a drink and then that naturally brings in predators as well," he said.

"It's awesome to see [the predators] dive bombing through thousands of budgies and trying to get some food."

Mr Woodley said there had definitely been an increase in raptor numbers in the region.

"The budgies are here to take advantage of the water in the seed. Then the raptors come in to take advantage of the abundance of food," he said.

Which is why the tiny bird flocks together.

"It's safety in numbers. A lot of people will compare it to a large school of fish," he said.

"The large school of fish looks like one entity in the way that they move and coordinate their movements to escape predators. The budgies are the same."
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/budgies-transform-red-centre-into-a-sea-of-green-and-gold/ar-BB1fNepr?ocid=msedgdhp
 

WildMountain

New member
That's awesome. A bit of good news in these too-often dark times. The bats and other wildlife in Texas is really suffering after the deep freeze. Makes my heart happy to see so many budgies in the wilds still thriving. Viva budgerigar!

Thanks for sharing. :)
 

Staff online

Members online

Still Needs Help

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,896
Messages
1,255,655
Members
75,964
Latest member
lil booshka
Top Bottom